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The Philadelphia Flyers wasted no time reshaping their roster to start the offseason. On Tuesday, acquire goaltender Joseph Woll and defenseman Simon Benoit from the Toronto Maple Leafs, in exchange for Samuel Ersson, Emil Andrae, and Philadelphia’s 3rd round pick in the 2026 NHL Draft.
It’s the first move by general manager Daniel Briere to significantly upgrade a needed position: his goaltending tandem. With Woll on board, Briere acquires a borderline starter quality goaltender to pair with incumbent Daniel Vladar.
Woll’s Pros & Cons
Woll is the unquestioned centerpiece of the deal for Philadelphia. He owns a career record of 63-43-9, along with a 2.94 goals-against average and .906 save percentage in 117 regular-season games.
He also has substantive postseason experience as he’s appeared in 14 Stanley Cup Playoff games, with a 6-6 record, 2.73 goals-against average, and .906 save percentage.
Woll also comes with cost certainty over the next two seasons ($3.667 million AAV), while Ersson is a restricted free agent.
Additionally, Woll allows the Flyers the benefit in taking their time with goalie prospect Carson Bjarnason, who will be entering his second season with the Lehigh Valley Phantoms.
However, Woll is coming off an underwhelming 2025-26 season, though that could be said for so many Maple Leafs. The 6-foot-3, 212-pound goaltender had a 15-16-7 record, two shutouts, a 3.34 goals-against average, and a .899 save percentage last season.
Additionally, Woll comes with an injury history. He suffered a severe high ankle sprain that caused him to miss 35 games in 2023–2024. He also had multiple lower-body injuries throughout the 2024 and 2025 seasons.
Benoit Adds Depth
The 27-year-old Benoit provides the Flyers with defensive depth, along with size (6 foot 4, 210lbs) and snarl (194 hits last season). He’s an interesting projection pending how the rest of the Flyers blueline will look.
Talent-wise, he projects as a third-pairing type similar to Noah Juulsen’s role last season. However, it wouldn’t be surprising to see him in a Nick Seeler-type role as well, as he blocked 114 shots last season.
Ersson’s & Andrae’s Exit
Despite a strong post-Olympic break performance, Ersson’s overall resume left a bit to be desired when it came to reliability. And that’s where the Flyers started looking for alternatives.
Andrae, a restricted free agent, is the main piece of value headed to Toronto. Despite his lack of size (5 feet 9, 189lbs), he always played above his weight, willing to physically engage. His on-ice vision would help the Flyers spring transitional rushes. However, he found himself pinched lineup-wise, as he never played above the third pairing. Additionally, he was never on the power-play, where he starred at the AHL level.
With prospects Oliver Bonk and David Jiricek pushing for a roster spot, the writing was on the wall for his time with the Flyers.
Both Andrae and Ersson have a chance to benefit from a change of scenery. But the Flyers need to strengthen their primary goaltending tandem, which proved more important.
What’s Next?
The big question now is: what might the Flyers do next? With their goaltending situation secured, attention now turns to how Briere might address their lack of center depth & the need for a power-play point.
In addition, the trade leaves the Flyers with four draft picks in the 2026 NHL Draft (Rounds One, Two, Six, and Seven).
Might there be more deals to add to their pool before then? Stay tuned.
Read more: Bill Meltzer’s transaction analysis on PhiladelphiaFlyers.com: Click here.
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